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News tagged with herbivores

Australia -- land of the koala, kangaroo... and elephant

Elephants and maybe rhinoceroses could be introduced to Australia to chomp on an invasive African grass that also causes wildfires, according to an idea reported in a scientific journal on Wednesday.

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 16

Plant-eating dinosaur discovered in Antarctica

For the first time, the presence of large bodied herbivorous dinosaurs in Antarctica has been recorded. Until now, remains of sauropoda - one of the most diverse and geographically widespread species of herbivorous dinosaurs ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Dec 19, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Invasive false brome grass is spreading, but Oregon's insects are biting

After hiking in Oregon, a University of Oregon plant biologist suggests, people may want to brush off their shoes and comb through their dogs in an effort to curb the spread of an invasive grass that is expanding ...

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 15, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Plant defences - the mystery deepens

New research has brought us a step closer to untangling the complex reasons why certain plant species triumph over others.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 21, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

New bacteria toxins against resistant insect pests

Toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria (Bt toxins) are used in organic and conventional farming to manage pest insects. Sprayed as pesticides or produced in genetically modified plants, Bt toxins, us ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 19, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Herbivorous fish like eating meat

The grass carp, thought to be a strict vegetarian, seems to have a preference for amphipoda. NWO researcher Liesbeth Bakker made this discovery during her research into the food preferences of fish. The discovery ...

Biology / Ecology

created Oct 19, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Herbivore populations will go down as temperatures go up, study says

As climate change causes temperatures to rise, the number of herbivores will decrease, affecting the human food supply, according to new research from the University of Toronto.

Biology / Ecology

created Oct 04, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Insect gut microbe with a molecular iron reservoir

Microbes are omnipresent on earth. They are found as free-living microorganisms as well as in communities with other higher organisms. Thanks to modern biological techniques we are now able to address the ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Sep 01, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Seeing the wood for the trees: New study shows sheep in tree-ring records

Nibbling by herbivores can have a greater impact on the width of tree rings than climate, new research has found. The study, published this week in the British Ecological Society's journal Functional Ecology, could ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jul 27, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Loss of large predators has caused widespread disruption of ecosystems

(PhysOrg.com) -- The decline of large predators and other "apex consumers" at the top of the food chain has disrupted ecosystems all over the planet, according to a review of recent findings conducted by an ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jul 19, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Where have all the dodos gone?

Biology professor Beth Shapiro is one part laboratory scientist and one part Indiana Jones style adventurer, traveling to remote locations to find fossilized bones and eggshells of ancient animals and extract ...

Biology / Other

created Jun 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Lollipops with side effects: Plant's sugary offering betrays caterpillars to predatory ants

Trichomes, hair-like projections on leaves, are part of a plant's defense against herbivores: they can be obstacles, traps, or reservoirs for toxic substances. The hairs of wild tobacco Nicotiana attenuata ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 25, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Drought-exposed leaves adversely affect soil nutrients, study shows

Chemical changes in tree leaves subjected to warmer, drier conditions that could result from climate change may reduce the availability of soil nutrients, according to a Purdue University study.

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 05, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 1

Fast growth, low defense -- plants facing a dilemma

Plants are attacked by a multitude of insects and mammals. As defense against these herbivores they developed complex defense mechanisms over the course of evolution: spines, thorns, leaf hairs and a number of toxic chemical ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 28, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

SU biologist partners with National Park Service to study bison grazing in Yellowstone

While Yellowstone's celebrated bison may be among the most popular tourist attractions in the park, their grazing habits and increasing numbers have raised questions about the long-term stability of the park's grasslands. ...

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 20, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Herbivore

Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs[page needed] such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in general are known as primary consumers. Comes from the Greek suffix "vora" (Greek -βόρα) meaning "which eat".[citation needed]

Herbivory usually refers to animals eating plants; fungi, bacteria and protists that feed on living plants are usually termed plant pathogens (plant diseases),and microbes that feed on dead plants are saprotrophs. Flowering plants that obtain nutrition from other living plants are usually termed parasitic plants.

A herbivore is not the same as a vegetarian, a human who voluntarily undertakes a primarily herbivorous diet.

For more information about Herbivore, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.